Oil firms are in dispute with the Tanzanian government over local content obligations contained in Petroleum Act 2015. These disagreements have appeared as the Tanzanian government started collecting stakeholders’ views to enforce the regulations, reported All Africa News.

The oil and gas companies through their organization, Oil and Gas Association of Tanzania (Ogat) told the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura) that they are uncomfortable with the local content requirement in Tanzania and want it to be reviewed, The East African News informed. Oil and gas companies are rejecting the regulation as they are costly.

According the proposed regulations, a contractor must submit a local content plan for approval prior to getting involved in any petroleum related activity. The submitted plan should include details of employment, training, succession plans, research and development, procurement of goods, services, and technology transfer.

A Senior Official with Ophir Energy, a UK-based oil and gas exploration company, Halfani Halfani, stated: “Our aim is to help the government come up with a realistic regulation on local content. All the concerns are taken into account in the process, backed by an extensive study on best practices.”